U.S. Pat. application No., 09/516,350, filed on the same date herewith and assigned to the same assignee, is a related application.
This invention relates, in general, to semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to a radio frequency bipolar transistor and method of manufacture thereof.
For a transistor to operate efficiently at high frequencies, the transistor should have, among other characteristics, a small base transit time, a low intrinsic base resistance, and a small, linear extrinsic base-to-collector capacitance. Radio frequency (RF) bipolar transistors typically have a plurality of emitter finger regions in a common base well. The frequency response of these transistors is lithographically established by a width of the emitter region in the common base well. However, these transistors have a large base transit time, a high base resistance, and an excessive, nonlinear extrinsic base-to-collector capacitance.
Accordingly, a need exists for a semiconductor component capable of operating efficiently at high frequencies. The bipolar transistors of the component should have smaller base transit times, lower intrinsic base resistances, and smaller, more linear extrinsic base-to-collector capacitances, when compared to the prior art.